Barley and Pear Chicken Soup

 
I got this recipe inspiration from  Nasi Lemak Lover.  This soup is new to me as I haven't cooked any soup with fruit before.  I know people used papaya, apple, watermelon skin and pear to boil soup but I never tried making it myself.  I used pear because I had one that had been sitting in my refrigerator for a long time and had turned soft.  What better way than to throw it in soup eh?  This soup turned out to be very sweet and really nice to drink.  Strangely Evy didn't like it but the rest of us drank it clean.


Two days later, I tried it with apple (added Goji berries) and it was equally sweet and delicious.  This soup became Edda favorite as she was the one requested for it.  But Evy won't touch hers at all, I wonder why as this soup was really sweet.

  

Salmon Noodle Soup

This noodle soup is almost identical to my Chicken Shells Soup.  The only different is salmon was used and I added red bell peppers.  This is the first time I used salmon in soup and I was impressed at how well it hold it's shape and tastes really good.  Now I have new way of cooking salmon as this gives me an idea of creating other soupy salmon dishes.

I really loved these two types of noodle soup, of course you can use other kind of dried pasta that you have at home.  You can easily cook a big pot and enjoy it for days.  Give it a try and feedback to me ya!

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is Daphne from More Than Words! Check out the delicious round up on April, 16th!

Nam Yee and Red Bean Dumplings/ Ham Chin Peng/ 油炸面包

Firstly, this is not my recipe, I couldn't possibly invent a Ham Chin Peng recipe.  I saw this recipe at my friend's house while reading her cookbooks' collection.  This recipe was from a cookbook called Pasar Malam Delights.  When I saw this recipe, I got to have it because it has my favorite Ham Chin Peng recipe which the book called Nam Yee and Red Bean Dumplings.  What got my attention was the easy one step method (no starter, no ingredient I couldn't recognize) and furthermore, I already have all the ingredients at home.  You know me, I don't attempt any difficult recipe, anything too complicated, too troublesome, I passed.  If you are like me, this is one recipe you should look at and try. 

The end result, crispy skin, soft fried bread, sweet red bean paste and Nam Yee smell in the bread.  Next time, I will try the savory version using this recipe, just replace the red bean paste with salt and five spice powder and wrap it differently (I liked the savory one more).  I have a little step-by-step pictures in my next page and tips/note.  Living abroad and everything have to make ourselves, this recipe is good enough for me.  The one we get at the Vietnamese bakery store in Denver is plain, unlike the ones in Malaysia.

Stir Fried Broccoli with Straw Mushrooms

Broccoli is good for us.  If I cannot get to shop in my Asian store for my Chinese greens, I would buy broccoli.  Broccoli and cauliflower are more expensive in Malaysia and it was normally served on special occasions and during Chinese New Year.  My mom loved to mix broccoli and cauliflower together for the veggie dish she served on CNY.  Whereas, over here broccoli is pretty reasonable and we have it all seasons.

Sharing with you a dish that anyone can cook at home.  I think some of you have been cooking this at home too since it is a common home cook dish.

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

Recently I made and brought 25 of these chocolate glazed baked donuts to bring to share with Evy's classmates and teacher.  The teacher would do a little something special for the birthday boy or birthday girl and asked the students to sing the birthday song.  Evy wanted to share some treat with her classmates and wanted me to bake something.  I thought of this baked donuts because it was healthier for the kids, mainly made of yogurt.  I added the chocolate glazed and sprinkles because the kids loved them, looked like a donut yeah?

See my other baked donuts recipes:  Baked Raisin Donuts,  Green Tea Baked Donuts, Assorted Baked Donuts, Healthy Baked Donuts.

Spicy Eggplant Top with White Chicken Bits (炒辣茄子鸡)

I had a spicy eggplant version with ground pork and this is my another version with chicken bits.  This is of course healthier than ground pork as ground pork that we get in the store usually have lots of fat in it, unless you make your own ground pork with lean pork.  Since I always have skinless and boneless chicken breasts at home, why not I just cut it into tiny bits (instead of ground chicken) like a 鸡球 to substitute the ground pork.  I also used a different sauce for this, this is the sauce I used to stir-fry my kangkong belacan or any spicy Malaysian style vegetable.  My short-cut sauce that I can easily buy it in any Asian store here.